Soooo tired

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Today was a great day. Didnt have a hard time finding my way around AT ALL, and when I went back to the station I had come from, I realized just how far off I was wondering from my hotel last night. I mean, it was pretty bad. Thankfully I was able to figure everything out today, and the palce I wanted to hang out was right behind the station.

I went to Ueno park today. It has a cool shrine, the Zoo, and a few museums. I got there kinda early, so I walked around first. I was happy to see the Siago statue. He's the guy that the movie The Last Samurai is based off, tho the movie has NOTHING to do with Siago (Doesn't even use his name), in fact about the only thing they have in common is the time period. Anyways, I had read a book about him not long ago, so it was neat to see that.

I went to the Tokyo (or Edo) history museum first. Almost half of it was closed til after the 1st, but I still got to see lots of cool things. Art, Samurai and Kabuki gear, and Buddhist statues and history. Then i went to the Zoo and had fun looking at some strange animals. I think I'm in love with the red panda. Very strange, but cute looking animal!! The cages were small and in some ways it was depressing, but I still enjoyed myself. I loved the Monkey Mountain. Yes, I got a pic of a monkey playing with himself, and also of an Elephant peeing on the dung pile he just laid. Nice.

I got to eat at my frist real Japanese resurant. I had Unagi and Shimp Tempura (plus pickled Vegs and soup). Now I know why other travelers say to find cheap food and not always eat out, that meal cost me nearly $30!!! Thankfully it's rude to tip in Japan so that was an extra 20 percent I didnt have to lay down on top of that. Granted it was a lot of food, and it was also a late lunch (so I ended up skipping dinner as well.. and i know thats not good for me... but now my tummy hurts and i dont know if its the food or if its all the traveling).

Then I just hung out in the streets. I played some video games, that I had NO idea what I was doing, and then bought a really really cute handbag that cost just as much as it was cute! Yikes! But I guess every now and then its ok to splurg. Wow, so people were right when they warned me that its not CHEAP to travel in Japan.

Best part of the day, ran into lots of people in Tokyo that spoke English, so I got lots of help when needed (which wasnt much) and I never got lost!!!!! Made it back ok, and I also found a close by 7/11, meaning that are one of the few places that has international atms.

Well, now my tummy is hurting more and more so I think I will retire and call it a night. I might watch some movies and just rest in my bed (I think 6pm is way to early to go to bed, I should stay up until at least 10 even tho I woke up at 5am this mroning).

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Photos

Siago
Statue of the last Samurai!

Japanese graveyard
Right behind the Tokyo Museum!

Tokyo National Museum
Very cool place, only during the time of the year that I went, almost half of it was closed off :(

Ueno Zoo
Some of my cool pictures from the Zoo are in my gallary! Must check those out!

Symbol of Peace
This is a burning flame that has been burning since the Atomic bomb was dropped on Haroshima

Old Temple
First one that I got to visit in Japan!

Comments

[Theresa]

hi
Okay, so I dunno if you can fix this or prevent on future entries, but advertisements are fixed at points on top of your blog entry and I'm missing out on a whole paragraph. It's killing me--must know everything! So, there better be a ton of pix to make up for the chunks I'm not getting to read! :) Anyhoo, yeah, give the tummy some time. It took mine a week when I went to Norway. Best advice I have is find a grocery store and try to find some Japanese version of something familiar to your stomach. That should ease the transition--hopefully. Cool first day. Glad you're having a blast. Btw, did I mention that I'm loving the blog!?